FIG. 1 depicts a conventional basic body mounted or hand held camera support and stabilization system 100. It includes a top stage 102 for camera mounting, post 104 and gimbal mechanism 106 for support of a camera and stabilizer system about a common pivot point, a monitor 108 for viewing the camera's image, and a lower support (sled) 110 that interconnects the post, a battery system 112, and miscellaneous electronic systems. Battery power must be supplied to the camera, and the viewer must be functionally connected to the camera, so the image captured by the camera can be seen. As is apparent from FIG. 1, the camera is displaced from the viewer and the battery, and therefore, wires or cables must extend between the camera and these auxiliary components. (The term “cable” as used herein will include any flexible component that can functionally link cameras to auxiliary components such as viewers and batteries.) Typically, to accomplish this connect coaxial cable and stranded copper cables are run through connectors, or via hard wiring, from the lower sled portion 110, up through the post 104, to the top stage 102. Within the top stage section, power and video cables are then typically broken out to external connectors and then connected to the camera. Within this structure the preferred method of running the cables to the top stage section is within the post itself. Doing this helps to protect the cables from damage and also allows for unimpeded operation of the camera stabilization system without concern for having the operator or other equipment being entangled in the cables. The common approach in connecting the post cables to the lower sled portion 110 is either via a hard wired connection through a rigidly attached post or via an interconnect connector attached to a removable post. If a hard wired/rigid post method is employed, the camera stabilization type system is limited as to how compact it can become for storage and transport. When employing the removable post method, the cost of the assembly is increased because of the addition of connectors, and reliability of electrical or optical connections between post and sled is decreased.
Compacting of the camera stabilization system is desired in order to reduce the volumetric space required for storage and transport. Decreasing this size as much as possible allows users of the system to transport the device at a lower cost, and to have it fit more readily in compact spaces such as in cars. In effect, the system is made more portable. In having the ability to compact the system, the durability and reliability of the camera stabilization device must be maintained.
Currently there are a number of schemes to connect the post mechanism to the main lower sled body. They include, for example, mechanically rigid, non-removable or separable post mechanisms with hard wired electrical/fiber optic connections disposed internally within the post and sled. Also used are mechanically removable post mechanisms with connectorized electrical/fiber optic connectors internal to the post and sled. Another mechanically rigid, non-removable or separable post mechanism has hard wired electrical/fiber optic connections external to the post and sled. An external mechanism may also incorporate connectorized electrical/fiber optic connectors.